Snow throws drivers a curve

Crash kills one on I-94; many slide-offs, fender-benders.

Crash kills one on I-94; many slide-offs, fender-benders.

December 16, 2007|JOSHUA STOWE Tribune Staff Writer

Snow-covered roads sent motorists sliding on Saturday, killing one person and creating headaches for drivers across the area. As of 10 p.m., police had reported one weather-related death. It occurred near Stevensville at mile marker 21 of Interstate 94, police said, adding that they could not immediately provide further information. Several other people escaped serious injuries during rollover crashes, police said, but most drivers contended with slide-offs and minor fender-benders. While South Bend saw a few minor crashes, police said, St. Joseph County officers kept busy responding to accidents. The northern and eastern portions of the county provided the toughest going for motorists, police said. By 8 p.m., the county had recorded almost 30 crashes, including more than a half-dozen on Cleveland Road, said Holly Landgraf, a dispatcher. "We haven't really had any serious injuries yet today, just minor scrapes and bumps," she said. "Last year was really bad. But then again, this is just the beginning." Landgraf had no trouble ticking off the problem roads -- Cleveland between Gumwood and Juniper was especially bad, she said, but Ironwood and Bittersweet had proved treacherous as well. At one point, police responded to a rollover crash on Dragoon Trail, where power lines had come down. At another point, they extricated three people from a van that slid into a ditch alongside Indiana 331. No one was seriously injured in either accident. Meanwhile, in Michigan, state police handled a rollover accident on the St. Joseph Valley Parkway in Bertrand Township, near Niles -- but no one was hurt. The Indiana Toll Road saw its share of minor single-vehicle accidents, said Sgt. Jeff Whiteman, an Indiana State Police spokesman. "We've got a full crew of troops out tonight, and I think the plows do too," he said. "People are just going too fast." Farther east, the state police post in Bremen did not see many crashes, Trooper Matt Makowski said. But curious callers peppered police with "non-stop" questions about the weather and how it had worsened road conditions, he said. "Quite a few," he said at one point. "I'd probably have to say about 30 within the last two or three hours." The area's National Weather Service was calling for 8 to 12 inches of snow on Saturday night, and another 2 inches this morning, meteorologist Mark Steinwedel said. Today, winds gusting at 30 to 40 mph could create "near-blizzard conditions," he said, which led him to warn would-be motorists. "Stay off the roads," he said, "if you can." Staff writer Joshua Stowe: jstowe@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6359